China finds gas field with 100 billion accessible cubic meters

China's Xinhua news service is reporting the discovery of a large natural gas field in the Guizhou Province, located in the southwest part of the country.

According to the country's Ministry of Land and Resources' CGS, geologists located four layers of shale gas at Anye Well 1 in Zunyi. Tests in one layer found a steady output of 100,000 cubic meters of gas per day. The CGS said that the amount of accessible gas is around 100 billion cubic meters.

The CGS added that the reserves there could meet the residential, industrial and agricultural needs of approximately 10 million people in the region.

The demand for natural gas in China saw an upswing earlier this year on the heels of price cuts for the fuel, which drew off customers for coal. The government adjusted gas prices twice in 2015 with the goal of stimulating demand for natural gas and to accelerate the country's move from coal. Coal accounts for 64 percent of China's energy.

Demand for natural gas led to the country increasing its first two shipments by 14 percent in 2015. During that year, China used 35 percent more gas than had been predicted by the EIA's International Energy Outlook for 2010.

Forbes notes that gas remains the country's fastest-growing fuel. Demand has quadrupled in the last ten years. The country's Five Year Plan calls for the replacement of coal in non-power sectors with gas and electricity. According to Forbes, The Party is seeking to increase natural gas to 10 percent of the country's energy portfolio.

Lincoln Brown for Oilprice.com

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